


Craving

by Sexandcigarettes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anorexia, Body Dysphoria, Bulimia, Bullying, Eating Disorders, F/M, Hogwarts, Quidditch, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Harm, Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sexandcigarettes/pseuds/Sexandcigarettes
Summary: Aurora Glynt transfers from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to Hogwarts following her fifth year. Being socially awkward and silently suffering from an eating disorder and depression, moving across the world and beginning at a new school was definitly not something she wanted. As her mental health deteriorates, she finds comfort in her own self destructive behaviours, as well as a certain boy. (Set during Half-Blood Prince, but I mixed up the order of events to fit my idea. So, I'm sorry for everything not being exactly accurate!)IF YOU ARE EASILY TRIGGERED BY TALK OF EATING DISORDERS/GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF BULIMIC AND ANOREXIC BEHAVIOURS, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM READING. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU ARE EASILY TRIGGERED BY TALK OF EATING DISORDERS/GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF BULIMIC AND ANOREXIC BEHAVIOURS, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM READING. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU! I'm writing this as a coping mechanism for my own personal struggles. I'm combining my love of writing and the Harry Potter universe to express myself. Nevertheless, if this is your cup of tea, I hope you enjoy the story. Stay safe and well xx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora finds out she must leave her home, her school, her friends, her comfort zone. This is where we begin.

Drool dripped from my chin as my head hung over the toilet bowl, the familiar acidic taste lingered in my mouth. My knees were aching beneath me, desperately trying to keep me upright. I couldn’t get anything else up from my stomach. My throat burned ferociously and my stomach ached. I spat into the toilet bowl and grabbed some tissue to wipe my now reddened and puffy face.

I deserved this.

I slumped back against the door of the bathroom stall, breathing deeply. My eyes were probably bloodshot and tearing a little. I couldn’t go back out there yet. I needed some more time. But I knew if I stayed any longer, they were bound to come in and find me. Or worse, I’d be too late.

I struggled to my feet, flushed the toilet, and went to look at my reflection in one of the many mirrors of the Hogwart’s girl’s bathroom, likely for the last time.

’ _You look like shit. You look even worse now than you did before you ate. You’re absolutely disgusting. Look at yourself! You’re an absolute disgrace!’_

But then, the other voice in my head spoke up. This voice was more urgent, louder and clearer than the other.

‘ _He’s sowewhere in the castle! You need to get to him, and now! Come on, get up! Run!’_

Fixing my hair, I turned on my heels and ran. I needed to find him, and soon.

*****

I loved Massachusetts. I honestly can’t even believe I’m saying that. For my whole life, I’d grown up hating the damn place. When I wasn’t in school at Ilvermorny, I lived in Boston with my overbearing parents - Camilla and Marcus Glynt, and younger sister Ellen.

My mother was an auror, and a very good one at that. It was three months ago when she’d been offered a good position at the Ministry of Magic in Britain. She and my father spent weeks arguing back and forth about what to do- to take the opportunity or to stay. Sure, the pay would certainly be better. My good-for-nothing muggle father didn’t make too much cash anyway. He was unemployed, yet acted as if he was the CEO of some multi million dollar company. They’d spend hours each night yelling about what to do, keeping Ellen and myself awake until ungodly hours of the morning. It was the first time in my life I’d heard my father and mother so separated from one another mentally. Finally, after long and tedious discussions, my father agreed to move to England, much to his dismay.

I had completed my fifth year of school, and had a best friend that I was blessed to have - Christie. She was, as far as I was concerned, the only person on the planet earth that understood me. She was the one I went to with any issues I had, therapy was not an option for me. My father believed therapists were “crazy” and that I just needed to "get a grip". So Christie was my emotional punching bag a lot of the time, which is something I hate to admit. Especially considering the fact that she came from a terrible background herself. Anytime I would vent to her about my own struggles, I would feel guilty about it for days for adding extra stress to her life. But she never complained. She told me she loved and cared for me, and that my issues were her’s. We were a team. That alone, kept me afloat.

I wasn’t what you would call popular or particularly charismatic. I’m that person at a party that would sit in the corner watching the clock. But Christie and I did that together and had a lot more fun sitting and talking than getting drunk and making out with random people. Leaving her would be the most difficult thing. Yes, I would miss my school, my house and my routine. But without my best friend, I felt I would be lost.

Our plane left Boston for London at 5am on the morning of August 20th, I hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. I spent the last few hours in my home wandering around the empty rooms, thinking back on all the memories I’d had there.

I looked around the living room, the fireplace that once held all our family photos was now totally bare. There were slight dents in the carpet from where the furniture had been, all of our furniture had been sold. Gone.

My bedroom was just as empty, just a few garbage bags in the corner with junk that had been lying around. It wasn’t a happy night for me. I was leaving. And who knew when I would return. I sat cross legged on the floor, hugging my old and raggedy teddy bear closely.

Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That’s where I was going. That would be my new reality. A new country, new house, new school, and I would know nobody. Great!


	2. Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora and her family settle in their new home in England, and go to Diagon Alley for the first time.

It was colder than I had anticipated. We arrived in London at midday, surrounded by muggles hurrying about their business and running to collect their luggage. My mother had been brought up by magical parents, and the life of muggles continued to fascinate her. Dad had to nudge her a few times to stop her from staring at them.

Ellen, unlike me, was practically beaming to start at a new school. She would be going into her third year. She was the polar opposite to me - loud, outgoing, popular, you name it. Not to mention she got the looks, she was thin with a pretty heart-shaped face and long, blonde hair. She was everything I wanted to be. She, no doubt, would have no trouble fitting in and getting settled.

A few hours later, after a strange encounter with a muggle taxi driver, we arrived at our new home. It was about two hours outside of London, down a long and hedged country lane. It was indeed a pretty house. It had that old Victorian look about it, with large gates and a long winding driveway. It definitely needed to be repainted- something Dad would probably find every excuse not to do for a while. Lazy cunt.

We had just a few days to get settled in to our new house before we would be on the move again, back to London to buy my school books and robes. The list of items I would need to buy was quite extensive. The cost of all of this would be high, and that’s just my list alone. Ellen’s list was just as lengthy.

That first night, I slept pretty well. I managed to avoid eating dinner by telling my parents I was too ‘jet lagged’ to eat, and needed to go straight to bed. I slipped into my night dress and rummaged through my suitcases to find my muggle bathroom scales that I had owned for about three years, and it was both my best friend and worst enemy. It either made my day, or ruined it. There was no in-between.

I looked at my body in the mirror in the upstairs bathroom. Fat fat fat. I stood at 5”1, short but not too short. My wavy dark hair reached my mid back, and it definitely needed to be washed. My cheeks were red, the bags beneath my eyes were probably the most noticeable thing about me right now. Yep, I needed sleep.

I stepped onto the scales, closing my eyes as I awaited it to give me that number. That number that would determine everything. I looked down slowly and felt my heart sink.

107.6 pounds.

_Shit._

I had gained weight.

I searched my mind for how the fucking hell I could have gained three pounds in less than a week. I hadn’t been able to weigh myself as the scales were at the bottom of my suitcase in the days leading up to the move. I hadn’t binged or over eaten. Sure, my exercise regime was a little bit lacking since I had other things to do, but I surely wouldn’t gain three pounds from not exercising for a couple days. Then I remembered the amount of water I drank that day on the flight to keep my hunger at bay. It could have easily been six full bottles of water. That must be it - water weight. That had to be it. Nevertheless, those extra pounds had to go. My goal weight needed to be reached by the Christmas Holidays.

I sighed deeply, kicking the stupid scales into the corner of the bathroom. Lathering my hands in soap, and tossing water onto my face, I got ready to turn in for the night.

Not bothering to dress my bed, I lay on the mattress and used my furry jacket as a a blanket and my teddy bear as a pillow. I fell asleep quickly, trying to get my mind off Hogwarts.

*****

It was Wednesday- August 27th. Today we would be trekking back into London to get my school supplies. My weight had fluctuated between 106-107 pounds over those last few days, hence my mood was dull. The morning we would be going to London, I threw on a red sweater and some black leggings and boots. My oversized fluffy coat kept me warm in the low temperature, but also meant nobody could get a good look at my horrific figure. The mere thought of someone looking at my body made me shiver. I wasn't pretty enough to show my body yet.

Ellen and I sat in the back of the taxi, while mom sat in the front with the driver. She was asking him about his job, what it entailed and if he liked it. You’d swear she was not from this world. Which, truth be told, she wasn’t. Every so often the taxi driver would look back at Ellen and I in the mirror and give us a look of ‘is your mother sane?’. I didn't blame the man, it was certainly uncomfortable.

After what seemed like a very long journey, he dropped us off at a strange looking bar called The Leaky Cauldron, a place I had never seen the likes of. None of the muggles on the street seemed to take any notice of it, giving me the impression that it had probably been bewitched in some way so that nobody other than magical people could see it. This turned out to be correct.

We thanked the taxi driver, my mother paying him. He seemed to be over the moon by the amount of money my mother had given him, no doubt she didn’t understand how muggle money worked. Still, that poor taxi driver deserved a large tip after that journey.

The bar was filled with people, young and old, in pointed hats, cloaks and robes of all colors and styles. It was dimly lit, and had a very comfortable feel to it. Strangely, I kind of liked it. This seemed like a place you could come to, drink, sit alone and think without being bothered. I took a mental note of this incase I ever needed a place to escape to.

The man behind the bar greeted us warmly, asking my mother all kinds of questions about herself, and she told him about her new position at the Ministry that would begin the following week. He seemed intrigued, especially after the events that had taken place in the ministry over the summer. Their conversation went on for quite a while. Ellen and I stood there, fiddling with the sleeves of our coats. That’s when the bar man turned his attention to us.

“Oh, and are these lovely young ladies your daughters?” He asked.

“Yes!” Mom replied cheerily. “This is Aurora and Ellen, they will be starting at Hogwarts next week in fact!”

“Well, there’s no better place to send them, is there?” He laughed. “And Aurora, what year will you be entering?”

“Uh, sixth year.” I murmured.

There was a pause, a long and uncomfortable one at that.

“So, you will be in the same year as Harry Potter...”

I knew of Harry Potter. Heck, the whole fucking wizarding world knew who Harry Potter was. He had recently been involved in an incident at the Minsitry of Magic, him and his school friends - people I’ll likely have classes with. Celebrities, practically.

“Yeah, I guess I will.”

There was an awkward pause following my response, to which my mother decided to pitch in again, seeing my obvious discomfort, and turning the man’s attention to Ellen.

After what seemed like an eternity, he showed us to the back where there was a large brick wall. It wasn’t a courtyard, it was much smaller than that. Had this been a muggle bar, it would be where muggle bartenders would keep the kegs of beer. Not here, though.

The man tapped several bricks in a strange order, and the wall began to change, shift. The bricks quivered, slid and manoeuvred all over until a large archway was revealed to us, beyond it was a busy street filled with witches and wizards carrying bags of shopping.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley, ladies. Enjoy!”

My mother thanked the bar man and we walked through the arch, the noise seemed to increase significantly once we stepped through. I looked back, to see the archway immediately return to a brick wall. The street was cobblestone and the shops were old fashioned and very intriguing. There were people everywhere- literally everywhere. We had to squeeze between hoards of young people staring at brooms in a shop window and swerve around people rushing past us.

We stopped outside a store called Flourish and Blotts, it was listed as the place we would find our school books. Inside, it was just as packed as the street was. The women working in there looked very tired and overwhelmed. This, I should have expected. It was mere days before the school year would begin, and everyone would be out and about last minute getting what they’d need. I appeared to be the only girl in there over the age of 15. All around me were excited little kids, scanning the bookshelves for books about hexes and curses and begging their parents to buy them. To which, they were given a firm ‘no’ each time.

Once we made it out of there, I had two large, brown bags filled with heavy books. My Hogwarts letter had informed me that I was cleared to take Charms, Potions, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Herbology. It seemed they must have contacted Ilvermorny School to see my O.W.L grades. My mom assured me that she could afford it all, though I could tell that was a lie. I had The Standard Book Of Spells Grade 6, Advanced Potion Making, Confronting The Faceless, A Guide To Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Rune Translation and Flesh Eating Trees Of The World. Ellen had a mountain of books also, three full bags. And that was just the first damn shop!

Next was uniforms. This, was the part I was dreading most of all. Sure, I fucking hate crowds of people and talking to strangers. But something I hated even more was for someone to put me on a stool and measure my god damn body, and in front of fucking everyone else in the store.

It took us a while to find it, but we finally found Madam Malkin’s robe shop and entered. The three stools used for fittings were currently in use, the soon-to-be first years stood on them and were clearly over the moon to be trying on their new school robes. The uniforms themselves were rather plain - a black robe, dark sweater and trousers, as well as a hat, tie and white shirt. 

_Wow. How great it must be to not have to worry about your body and how you look in front of everyone._

Ellen went first, once a slot was free, and the measuring tape moved wildly, measuring all of her, following which a lady would give her robes to try on for size. After several failed attempts, they found her size and she was sorted.

Then it was my turn. Lord, help me.

I dropped my shoulder bag to the floor, reluctantly removed my oversized jacket and walked toward that darn stool. I cautiously stood up on it, careful to keep my balance. The last thing I wanted at that moment was to embarrass myself further by falling off the bloody thing.

The tape did it's dance, and I kept my gaze to the floor, hoping nobody would be looking in my direction. It measured all of me, and after a few moments it zoomed to the closest sales assistant. She sighed contently and went to the back to retrieve some robes. She handed me a large black cloak with a pointed hood and asked me to try it on, and I complied. I instantly wished I hadn’t. 

It was fucking huge on me. Did she think I’d need a size this big? I shook it off immediately and looked at the size on the tag of the robe which read ‘Ladies;Medium’. She thinks I’m a fucking medium size? Is that seriously what I look like?

“Yes, yes, that’s far too big on you dear. Let’s try a smaller size.”

I huffed, looking over to my mother and Ellen who were chatting to a couple and their young son. I hated clothes shopping with every fibre of my being. 

The next robe was a ‘Ladies;Small’ and it fit a little better, still large, though I was told that was how they were supposed to fit. I suppose an oversized robe wasn’t a bad thing, I try to cover my body as much as possible anyway. I couldn’t help but think about how great it would be to handed a ‘Ladies;extra small’ size, and how good it would feel to have that be oversized on me. But no. Someday, that will happen. But apparently that day wasn’t going to be today.

She gave me the rest of the uniform in the same size, and directed me to a few stalls in the back of the store. I went into the changing stall, and a large mirror faced me. I sighed, and looked away from it.

The shirt was a little big, but it would do. The jumper was fine also, and the skirt. The trousers were far too long on me, so I opted for the skirt instead. I pulled the robe over my uniform and turned to see my reflection in that big, obnoxious mirror.

I almost didn’t recognise myself.

I looked absolutely huge. The jumper beneath the robe made my shoulders and arms look bulky, and the skirt was incredibly unflattering. Just before I was about to let the tears fall from my eyes, the sales assistant asked how I was doing, and if I was ready to come out to show her.

I quickly wiped my face and pulled back the thick curtain. My mother looked me up and down, and smiled sweetly.

“Perfect! You’re all ready to go!”

“Not really, the pants are a bit too long for me. But the skirt fits okay, I suppose.” I replied, blandly. I knew I wasn't being the kindest of customers, but I was never happy trying on clothes. Literally, never.

The sales lady fixed me up with new trousers, I changed back into my regular clothes, and we payed. The cost of two full sets of uniforms was a lot, but mom kept up that ‘don’t worry, we have plenty of money’ facade. I knew my family had money problems, but she’d never admit it. She was far too embarrassed to ever admit it. She liked to be thought of as wealthy and proper. All fake, all of it. I thanked her nonetheless. 

After buying the last few items on our lists, my mother, Ellen and I headed to a tea shop. Ellen wouldn’t shut the fuck up about how excited she was, and about the Hogwarts houses she'd read up about. Mother listened intently, happy to see her little girl so gleeful.

I, on the other hand, sipped my herbal tea and glanced out the window out onto the busy street. Being out in public for extended periods of time drained me mentally, I couldn’t wait to just go back to our house and have a relaxing bath. I needed to mentally prepare myself for Sunday. That’s when I’d be going to King’s Cross Station. That’s when I’d be off. I took another sip of my tea, the bitter lemony taste lingering on my tongue. Then, something strange happened.

Something really fucking strange.

A guy, around my age, walked down the alley with an older woman next to him who heavily resembled him. It was probably his mother. He had platinum blonde hair, an angular face, and was dressed in an all black suit. He looked very important, as did the woman. They stood out significantly amongst everyone else. As they made their way down the street, the guy glanced in the window of the tea shop, locking eyes with me. His eyes widened at first, but then they narrowed, and a look of disgust took over his features. He looked at me as if I were a dead rat. His stare alone sent a deadly shiver down my spine.

As anxious and shy as I am, I decided to give him a half smile, trying not to show that I was uncomfortable. This made him raise an eyebrow. He wasn’t coming in here anyway, thankfully. Rich people here are obviously not that nice.

I watched as they entered the robes shop I had just been in, where the sales lady directed him to one of the stools. That was all I saw before the shop's door slammed shut. He must be a Hogwarts student. Well, I'll be avoiding him like the plague if he's ever around me again, thats for sure.


	3. The Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora and Ellen travel to London to get aboard the Hogwarts Express and travel to Hogwarts. Aurora discovers the stereotypes of the houses, and meets some new people.

It was September 1st, Sunday. I was totally out of breath, running to the platform. Ellen and mom were probably already on platform nine and three quarters. It was 10:56 and I was sprinting like an Olympian through King’s Cross Station. People actually stopped dead in their tracks to stare at this random girl running for her life. I bumped into several people and knocked luggage out of their hands. But I had no time to care right now. I was late as fuck.

I saw the platform, platform nine and three quarters was between platforms nine and ten - I was told to just run straight through the wall. And if that isn’t encouraging, I don’t know what is!

I ran even faster, seeing one of the wall clocks at the corner of my eye tick away. 10:57. The platform was about 30 meters from me now. I didn’t even break to think before I did it, I just ran at that fucking wall and hoped for the best. Thankfully, I made it through. And I made it onto the platform with two minutes to go.

My mother appeared to my left and started yelling something along the lines of “where the hell did you go?” and “what took you so long?”. But I didn’t have time.

“Mom, are my bags on the god damn train?”

“Yes they are, Ellen has your trunk and your bags. Now, where were -“

I didn’t waste another second, the train’s engine roared loudly. I made a mad dash for one of the doors and leapt up onto the train. I turned and blew a kiss at mom. I got on just in time, the moment I blew her that kiss, the door slid shut.

She waved like crazy at me and pointed to the compartment to my right, mouthing something that I made out to be “Ellen is in there”. I smiled and waved back at her, and the train began to move. After a few moments and a lot of steam, mom was out of sight.

I took a moment to lean back against the window, looking insane, no doubt. My hair was all over the damn place and I was out of breath from that sprint.

When mom woke me that morning, she informed me that she had gotten up earlier to make Ellen and I an elaborate breakfast. She asked me if I wanted anything, and me, in my half-asleep state, mumbled “yes”. So, when I finally dragged my lazy ass out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen, I found a plate filled with food and an empty chair in front of it. My breakfast. Fuck.

“Sit down, honey. You need a good breakfast this morning, I hear that train journey is hours long. You’ll need energy.” Mom had said, pouring me a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Ellen was already dressed and scoffing down a pancake covered in maple syrup. I tried not to look at the food.

“Mom, my stomach is in fucking knots! I’m nervous and I’m -“

“Aurora Glynt! How dare you speak like that to your mother! Sit down and eat!” My dad roared.

If I wasn’t fully awake before that, I certainly was now. Fuck.

I sat down at the table reluctantly, sensing the happy mood had been drained from the room. I looked down at my plate and groaned. There was bacon, covered in oil. There were two pancakes, syrup, fruit and eggs. Firstly, I didn’t think the sweet pancakes and fruit would pair well with eggs and bacon, but I was proven wrong.

I started by picking at the fruit, then having a little of the bacon. Then, something just came over me. I don’t even know what happened, but it was like I dissociated or something. Suddenly, the food on my plate was gone. And I was as full as I could be.

I had just eaten so much fucking food. Not even good, safe food. I ate greasy, sweet shit! Fuck! I could feel a panic attack coming on, I needed to get rid of it and quickly.

“Go up and get dressed, Aurora. We’ll be leaving in the next few minutes.” Mom informed me.

“Minutes?!” I practically shouted.

“You’re the one who slept in late, you’re lucky you packed all your stuff last night, aren’t you!”

I hurried upstairs, ran a comb through my frizzy hair and began putting on the clothes I had carefully laid out for myself the previous night. A blue sweater, black jeans, black slip on shoes and of course my black oversized fluffy coat.

I took a quick minute to look at myself in the mirror, knowing that inside my stomach the food was settling and going to become fat. I didn’t have any fucking time to get rid of it! I ran to the bathroom, grabbed the scales and shoved it into my trunk with great difficulty. I had barely managed to fit an extra pair of socks into the trunk the night before.

I decided I’d wait until we got to the station, and go to the bathroom there. Most of the food would be gone from my stomach by then, and the calories absorbed. But I could still try to get rid of some of it - even a bit of it.

Dragging my large trunk downstairs and taking a bottle of water from the kitchen counter, we left the house for London once again.

The fucking journey to Kings Cross station felt like an eternity. All I could think of was the amount of food I had just eaten, and how it would show up on my body in some way. How the number on the scale would go up. How pathetic I was. How little self control I possessed. How could I have been so stupid?

Upon arrival, I told mom I felt like I was going to vomit from being in the taxi for so long. She rolled her eyes and told me she’d meet me on the platform, and to be quick. I looked at the clock in the station which read 10:34 am. The train, I knew, left at 11am sharp.

I slammed the door of the bathroom stall, tucked my hair into the back of my sweater to keep it out of the way, and put three fingers back my throat as far as I could. I gagged a few times, and it took a few attempts to get anything up. And when food did come up, it was minimal. It didn’t even taste like food anymore, just that acidic, vomit taste. That was never a good sign, that means I’m too late. But I was determined to get as much up as possible.

I chugged down that bottle of water, hoping it would make it easier to get some more food up. It worked, sort of. It made the taste more bearable at least, but there was still little to no food coming up. I cried, but continued to make myself gag. Nothing came up. I cried harder and tried again. Nothing. Fuck!

I slammed down the lid of the toilet seat down and flushed, getting to my feet and wiping my mouth. I exited the stall and splashed cold water onto my reddened face at the sink.

_'It’s okay, we just won’t eat anything else today. Just drink water for the rest of the day, you ate enough for about a week anyway!’_

I took a deep breath and left the bathroom. That’s when I saw the time. Oh shit. I sprinted like a motherfucker through the station. For someone with such bad social anxiety, you’d think this was a life or death matter the way I was running and shouting for people to move.

But anyway, I caught my breath finally when I was safely on the train. After feeling my pulse return to normal, I turned to slide open the compartment door, my eyes scanning the place for Ellen with my stuff. Everyone was sitting with their friends, chatting and laughing. I pretended to know where I was going, though I had no idea.

Finally, after a bit of searching, I came across the compartment Ellen was in. She was, of course, after making three new friends. I let myself in.

“Oh you made it!” She exclaimed. “Your trunk is at the back of the train with mine, your bag is here.”

She hands me my handbag which was beneath her feet.

“These are my new friends by the way. This is sister Aurora, guys. She’s going into sixth year!”

The three other girls looked at me in astonishment. One was blonde with quite a severe overbite, the other was very small with a pixie cut and the last had braids and bright red lipstick. They were all very distinctive from one another.

“You- you’re going to be in the same year as Harry Potter!” One of the girls gasped.

I laughed and nodded, motioning for Ellen to move over for me to sit down. I didn’t feel like walking down that corridor again with a bunch of curious eyes on me.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be friends with him too, won’t you Aurora? You’ll introduce us when you’re friends with him won’t you?” Ellen went on.

“Ellen, I don’t know him.”

“Yeah, but you’ll have classes with him! You can introduce us!”

I quickly realized by the looks on the other girls’ faces that they all must have had crushes on Harry. I chucked and nodded at them.

“Yeah sure, when I’m BFF’s with Harry Potter, I’ll introduce you all to him!” I played along.

The girls practically squealed in delight. It was cute, they were all about 13 and were talking about typical 13 year old things - cute boys, the trendiest clothes, the popular and unpopular people in their year group. I managed to let their conversation drown out in the background as I stared out the window. That is, until the topic of houses came up.

“Yes, Gryffindor is by far the best! You don’t want to be in Hufflepuff, they’re all weird!” The blonde girl with the overbite started.

That’s definitely me, I thought.

“Then there’s Ravenclaw, that’s where all the smart people go and then Slytherin. All the mean ones go there.”

I decided to pick the brains of these girls, I hadn’t given much thought about the school houses until now.

“What do you mean all the mean ones are in Slytherin?” I asked her.

She looked at the compartment door to make sure it was locked before continuing.

“Well, none of them are very nice to anyone, except the other Slytherins obviously. They sort of like the people in Ravenclaw, but that’s about it. They hate us Gryffindors!”

Hmm, interesting.

“And how do they sort you into houses? Is it a quiz or something?” I asked, laughing.

“No, no, no. They put this talking hat thing on your head then the hat tells you where to go. It’s in front of the whole school. All the first years have to do it, and if you’re new. When I had to do it in my first year I nearly peed because I was so scared!”

Oh shit. In front of the whole school? I’d have to wait with a bunch of eleven year olds and my sister to have a talking hat tell me where to go? That’s humiliating!

“So, you and Ellen will have to go with the first years on the boats. It’s really cool though, you get to come in later than everyone. They show you the lake and everything.”

 _Fuck_.


	4. Sorting Hat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls arrive at Hogwarts, and they are sorted into their houses, which ones will they be in?

It was dark by the time we arrived at Hogsmeade Station. I dozed off about an hour into the journey, and awoke just before arrival. That was good, because it meant I didn’t have spend so much time worrying about the sorting hat. But as soon as I woke, reality smacked me in the face.

“Aurora! Come on you need to go to get changed, we’re almost there!” Ellen said and she shook me violently awake.

 _Oh shit_.

I wiped my eyes, threw my bag over my shoulder with my robes squashed into it and took off for the bathroom. Thankfully, it seemed I was so late to change that nobody was near the bathroom. It was, of course, a bathroom on a train so there was little in terms of space in there. There was a tiny mirror above the sink so I could fix my hair, but that was about it. I reached into my bag to find my makeup pouch and applied some products to my face to make me look a little more appealing.

_‘No amount of makeup could make you look pretty, just give up. Go outside or you’ll be late and embarrass yourself even more. Stupid bitch!’_

I sighed and put on my uniform and black tie, as I had yet to have a house tie, and put on that large black cloak. I stuck out, I had no friends with me and I had no house colors on my uniform. I slipped back inside the compartment and tried to remain calm. This was going to be so humiliating.

Ellen and I followed the first years to the boats when we got off the train, who were not too far off my own height. Maybe I would blend in a tiny bit.

_‘Yeah, looking like a first year is what you want. Idiot!’_

An exceptionally tall man by the name of Hagrid led us to the boats, and informed us that our luggage would be searched upon arrival. He told us that Dumbledore, the headmaster, would further explain why once the feast began. No doubt that was because of the return of the Dark Lord earlier in the year.

Ellen and I sat at the back of one of the boats and sailed on the calm, black lake toward the gigantic castle. It was astonishingly beautiful. It was nothing like Ilvermorny. It was so picture perfect I found myself a little start-stuck. Ellen, it seemed, was just as amazed as I was. She gaped at the sight of our new school, nudging me constantly and pointing at different things.

The boat ride itself wasn’t too long, and thankfully it wasn’t raining or too windy. I could at least look somewhat presentable in front of the entire school.

Once we docked, we were lead into the castle and up a large staircase until we reached a gigantic open hallway, and awaited the lady in front of us to begin speaking.

“Welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Professor Mcgonagall, I am the head of Gryffindor house and your new transfiguration teacher. Now, when I open these doors you will follow along and wait for your name to be called. When I call your name, you will come forward and sit, where the sorting hat will be placed on your head. The sorting hat will decided which house you belong to. There are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While you are here at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs and good deeds will earn you house points, any mischief or rule breaking, will lose you house points. At the end of the school year, the house cup is awarded to whichever house holds the most points. Now, come along.”

She seemed rather stern, strict. Transfiguration wasn’t exactly a favorite subject of mine, but if I ended up taking it and being in her class, I’m sure she’d be hell to deal with. But I couldn’t think of that now, I had to focus on not tripping over my own feet when I walked down the hall.

The large doors swung open abruptly, and the teacher began to lead us into the hall. It was massive, and the ceiling- well, there wasn’t one. It was bewitched it seemed. It appeared to be the night sky, with stars and a moon overhead.

There were four long tables that ran the length of the great hall, with students in different uniform variations at each. There must have been hundreds of students, and the whole lot of them turned to look at us as we entered. At the top of the hall, was another long table that ran the width, and people who I assumed to be teachers were seated along it.

I felt like I stuck out a lot, I was obviously quite a bit older than the younger students, so Ellen and I decided to hang around at the back of the lot.

We walked up toward the teachers table, where I spotted that stool the girl from the train had spoke of. When we got closer, we saw a very old, worn, pointed wizard’s hat be placed upon that stool, and a deep crease on that hat opened like a mouth.

The hat had a fucking voice, and began singing about the Hogwarts houses. I couldn’t focus on the hat because I was too hyper focused on everyone staring at Ellen and I.

I may have just been imagining it, but I could swear I heard something along the lines of “what’s up with those two?”.

That, alone, was enough to make me panic. They noticed me. That was, precisely, what I didn’t want.

I fiddled with the hem of my pleated skirt, I fixed the fastener on my robe, I straightened my black tie. I did everything to keep my hands occupied to not look so awkward. Though, I know it must have just made me look ridiculous, all that fidgeting.

The teacher, McGonagall, picked up the hat following its long and strange song, and began to speak.

“Now, I will begin the sorting ceremony with our two older students. Ellen and Aurora Glynt have come all the way from Ilvermorny in America to attend Hogwarts School. Aurora will be starting her sixth year, Ellen her third. So, Aurora, will you join me please?”

My heart was beating so loud and fast I was surprised I didn’t hear it. I looked to Ellen who, to my astonishment, looked just as terrified as I was. I had never seen Ellen look so scared. She took a step back so that I could move past her, and the first years moved to each side to create kind of an aisle for me to walk through, McGonagall and that darn hat awaiting me at the end.

“Sit” she insisted, and I did as she said.

I sat down on the little four-legged stool, and looked out upon the student body. I saw some of the students, ones around my own age, whispering to one another and looking very intrigued.

I didn’t even care what house I was put into, I really didn’t. I just wanted to be off that stupid stool and away from the center of everyone’s attention.

The hat was placed on my head, bringing my mind back to the task at hand. I was about to be sorted. What was I meant to be thinking about? My accomplishments? My failures? My personality traits?

“Hmm... interesting. Very interesting indeed.” The hat spoke quietly, as if it was whispering directly into my ear.

 _‘Just pick a fucking house! I didn’t come here to sit on a chair, I came here because I had no choice_!’ I thought, hoping the hat could read my mind.

“Well, well, well...” the hat went on.

‘ _oh for fuck sake, just pick a house you piece of-‘_

“Slytherin!” The hat called aloud, a loud applause coming from the far left of me. The hat was taken off my head, and McGonagall directed me to the Slytherin table, the one at which everyone was cheering, no doubt.

I didn’t know what they were cheering for, it’s not like I was going to add anything extraordinary to their house. I wasn’t great at sports, wasn’t very outgoing or charismatic. I didn’t have a great bit of talent in anything really. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel a little good about myself as I heard that applause.

I sat at the end of the Slytherin table, my focus now on Ellen as she was called next. She gave me a look as if to say ‘Slytherin? What the fuck’ before she sat on the stool.

“Gryffindor!” The hat called out, and a loud applause erupted from the opposite end of the hall. I clapped along with them, knowing she would be with her friends from the train. I didn’t take much notice of the strange looks I was getting from the other Slytherins while I did this.

The rest of the sorting was long and boring. There were about 60 first years, I suspected that the recent news regarding the Dark Lord’s return would have made parents very anxious to send their sons and daughters to school this year. I couldn’t say I blamed them, it was a scary time.

The feast began shortly after the sorting ceremony, and the empty plates in front of us suddenly filled with food of all sorts. There was just about everything you could imagine on the table, and it all looked absolutely delicious. I could feel my dry mouth watering at the sight.

I was hungry, very hungry. Maybe it was from the travel, which was hours long. I had managed to avoid eating on the train by sleeping. I felt my stomach churn, but I suppressed my desire to eat. My brain kept showing me flashbacks from that morning - all that food I had eaten. All those calories. All that fat.

No, I wouldn’t eat. Yet I knew I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. I took some pumpkin juice and poured it into my goblet, sipping little by little. That’s when one of the first years to my right decided to speak to me.

“So, you’re from America?” The young girl asked, while enjoying a roast potato.

“Yes, I am. Where are you from?”

“I live in London, away from the muggles of course. My parents will be so pleased to hear that I’m in Slytherin. Oh my, can you imagine being put in Hufflepuff! I think I’d be sick!” She laughed, shoving a spoonful of of food into her mouth.

_I think I’m about to get sick..._

“And what’s your name?” I asked.

“Jennifer Gray, you’re Aurora, yeah?”

Wow, this little girl was certainly observant. That’s when I realised what the fuck I was doing. I was conversing with a god damn first year. I looked down the table to see people my own age eyeing me up suspiciously.

Ugh.

I sipped on some more juice, pretending to be admiring the ceiling, or lack there of, when another voice spoke. Well, called out.

“So, Aurora-“

It wasn’t a prepubescent voice, it was definitely someone my own age or older. I looked down the table to see a well built guy with black curly hair and an angular jawline looking at me. He was across the table from me, and a few people down.

“Uh-yeah?” I responded, shakily.

This guy was, truthfully, very handsome. He had to be one of the popular guys, and more than likely a quidditch player. Cocky, confident and sexy. I knew the type instantly. The typical heartbreaker. 

“You’re going into 6th year, yeah?”

I nodded, half smiling and feeling my cheeks turn slightly pink.

“Why don’t you come and sit down here with us. I mean, unless you’d rather sit with the first years!” He laughed aloud, and so did everyone around him at the table.

Yep, I definitely knew the type of guy he was. The jackass. But, it might make me look less awkward if I at least sat with people my own age.

I got up and scooted in beside a blonde girl and another dark haired boy, so that I was now sitting directly across from the jackass.

“I’m Graham Montague” he said smoothly, flashing a set of perfect teeth. Then he turned to the people around him.

“This is Miles Bletchley, Cassius Warrington...” he showed me the two guys on either side of him. Both of them were also fiercely attractive and well built. “And this is Daphne Greengrass and Adrian Pucey”, he pointed to the two on either side of me.

“Hi..” I smiled awkwardly, fiddling with my thumbs nervously beneath the oak table.

“Welcome to Slytherin, to the party! Frankly, it’s nice to see a pretty face after so long. I’m sick to death of looking at Daph!” He laughed, and all the others laughed. Daphne, I noticed, chuckled only half heartedly.

They talked away about the teachers, and about Harry Potter at the ministry earlier that year. I noticed that they didn’t exactly speak of him very fondly. I also discovered that all the boys were all 7th years, so I wouldn’t have any classes with them, thankfully. The girl was in my year, though. The boys continued to tease her throughout the meal, and not in a flirtatious way. She seemed unbothered by it, but as soon as they turned their attention away from her, her head would droop and she would look rather humiliated. 

Maybe that girl on the train was right, maybe Slytherins were assholes. That’s definitely how it seemed.

“Arnt you going to eat anything?” The boy next to me, Adrian Pucey, asked.

“No, I ate on the train. I’m ready to sleep, honestly.”

“Me too, that fucking train journey is a pain in the arse. Actually, do you know-“

He was cut off by the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, who gave a disturbing speech about Voldemort, Tom Riddle. He explained why our luggage was searched, and how we were the Dark Lord’s greatest weapon or some shit like that. I didn’t really care, I just wanted to go to bed and forget about this whole day. The following day, of course, would be a whirlwind of chaos for me. 

Once we were dismissed, Daphne beckoned me to follow her. I said goodnight to the boys, earning a wink from Graham Montague, then I toddled along after Daphne. My eyes scanned the rest of the hall for Ellen, but not seeing her at all.

“Are you okay? I mean, those guys back there weren’t being very nice to you...“ I began to Daphne once we were away from the boys, not really thinking.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re all like that, you’ll figure it out soon enough.” She replied dryly, not looking at me.

_Well then, okay._

But I pushed further.

“Why do you hang out with them then? If they say all those nasty things to you...”

“None of your business!” She practically yelled. She yanked me by my robe away from the crowd and into an empty room, far too dark to see anything inside.

“Listen, Montague is mine. I know he’s going to try to get you into bed with him, he’s like that with lots of girls. But if you touch him, if you go anywhere near him! I -“

“Hey! What the-“ I shrieked, still very taken aback from being dragged into a classroom by some random girl. “I don’t want any of those guys back there. You can have him, I don’t care! God, I just wanted to make sure you were okay! They were literally just insulting you to your face for the entire meal!”

She scowled at me, an evil look in her eye.

“Just stay the hell away from him. Now, follow me. You'll probably be in my dorm.” She huffed, and made for the door.

I rolled my eyes and turned on my heels to follow along.

“Also” she said “Don’t even think about making any move on Draco Malfoy, or Pansy will probably hex the shit out of you.”

Who the fuck was Draco Malfoy? And Pansy? What?


	5. Night One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm editing the first few chapters, so some things may not make sense/change. Just an FYI xxx

I followed an irritated Daphne down the staircase from the entrance hall, past the kitchens, down lower...and lower...and lower. Our dorms were apparently in the dungeons. That dark, cold and eerie atmosphere enveloped me as I followed along. We walked down the dimly lit hallways for a couple of left and right turns, until we came to a sharp corner, where there was nothing but a dead end, and a plain, average looking wall. One of the 7th year students said the word "nutmeg' to the wall, and the wall jumped back a bit, opening up like a door on a hinge, and a stone archway was revealed before us.

The other students didn't blink twice at this, but I smiled to myself. I hadn't seen anything like that before. Also, I hadn't realised before arriving at Hogwarts, that the entrances to the dormitories for each house were very secret. In my head, I had pictured a floor just dedicated to boys dorms and girls dorms, not divided by house.

After walking through the arch, a magnificent open space greeted us. It was truly dazzling, and I probably looked like a fish out of fucking water as I took it all in. First of all, it was dark, like the dungeons themselves. It was lit solely by the candles hanging from the walls and chandeliers. Secondly, the large circular windows did not show the night sky like the great hall, but water. The Slytherin common room must have been beneath the lake. Also, the furniture was dark - mahogany floorboards and tables, as well as black leather sofas. To top it all off, the Slytherin symbol and colours were decorated all over the place, as well as silver ornaments and little trinkets. The common area was anything but bare. Strangely, I liked this. I could see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but to me, it was ideal.

A few of the students, presumably seventh years, stayed back in the common area on the sofas, talking and joking very loudly. This included Graham Montague and his...clique, so to speak. They were sprawled out along the black leather, not really caring that the other students were looking. 

"Oi, Glynt! Greengrass! Where are you two going?" Graham called after us.

"Bed." Daphne replied shortly, not giving him another glance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Graham Montague roll his eyes. I can't say I exactly blamed her for being pissed off. Hell, if I had been so blatantly insulted over the course of an hour and a half, I would have been raging too!

As I fought to keep up with her toward the staircase, I turned to wave goodnight to the boys, seeing them already looking in our direction. Graham was apparently feeling very bold, or just being plain cocky, because he winked at me as he waved back. 

Well, that was interesting. I hoped inside that I wouldn't have to be around those guys very much.

We arrived at the top of the staircase, and proceeded down a long corridor with dorms ranging from rooms 1 to 42. We stopped outside 36, and entered. It was more than I had expected, honestly. There were four wooden four-poster beds with emerald green covers over them, and at the end of each bed was a trunk and school clothing. It was a very spacious room, with an en suite in the far corner.

I spotted my trunk at once, black with a pink ribbon on the handle. I also caught sight of what was on top of it - the Slytherin uniform. More specifically, the green and silver tie, sweater, house robe, as well as hat, scarf and gloves. I wasn't the biggest fan of the colour green, but that was something I knew I'd need to get over, and quickly. Daphne's bed was next to mine, and the two other girls were across from us.

"So, were you expecting to be put in Slytherin?" one of the girls asked. She was a bit taller than I was, with short dark hair, high arched eyebrows and a resting bitch face. 

I was about to tell her how I knew nothing about the house rivalry until the train journey, and how I didn't give a shit about houses. However, I decided against that as soon as I spotted her trunk. Her trunk had fucking 'Slytherin4ever' carved into it. God, what kind of people are they?

"Yes, I wanted Slytherin. I mean, can you imagine being put in Hufflepuff?" I said jokingly, hoping to fucking Merlin I'd said the right thing.

She smirked, and strutted toward my bed to sit next to me. 

"But, wasn't your sister put in Gryffindor?" she asked.

I wasn't sure if this girl was testing me, to see if I was a hardcore 'Slytherin or nothing' type of person, or not. But, I decided to go further.

"Yep, I would've preferred to see her in Slytherin obviously, or Ravenclaw at the very least. But I guess there's nothing I can do about her now." I rolled my eyes dramatically, trying my fucking hardest to look as if this type of crap interested me. 

The girl stared me down for a few moments, before finally responding.

"Well, she's in third year anyway, right? It's not like you'll have to see her very often!"

This girl, it turned out, was Pansy. She was the one that Daphne had warned be about, something about staying away from her love interest, whose name I couldn't remember. The fourth girl in the dorm was Tracey, who was very pretty. She had shiny, shoulder-length brown hair and big brown eyes, accompanied with a perfect smile. The three girls proceeded to tell me about the other Slytherin girl in the year, Millicent, who was in dorm 35. Apparently, she was a 'foul little bitch'. 

_There must be something seriously wrong with Millicent if this lot are saying that she's the bitch..._

We stayed up late, sitting on our beds in our pyjamas and chatting. I was brought up to speed on the house rivalries, the losers, the popular people and of course, the incident at the Ministry earlier that year. Pansy, it seemed, absolutely despised Harry Potter, and his group of friends in Gryffindor. 

"The chosen one? Seriously? Have they gone mad? Honestly, this year, I hope every one of them gets expelled! I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened already with all the trouble they get into." She whined on, the other girls nodding in agreement. 

I wasn't too interested in their bullshit conversation until Daphne started talking about Graham Montague, and his behaviour at the feast.

"He looked at me and winked when he saw me on the platform, but then at dinner he was so cold towards me. I mean, after all I've done for him, after all I've given him for Merlin's sake!"

"He's just confused, you know he has feelings for you, we all know it, Daph." Pansy said. "Personally, I think he's just copying Cassius Warrington. Last year, Warrington shagged half the girls in their bloody year! Graham is obviously just trying to be like him. Don't take it to heart..."

Daphne nodded, but her gaze fell to the floor. This was obviously having a deep affect her. 

Something I had always hated, was when adults would look teenagers in the face and laugh at their relationship problems as if they were nothing. I hated how adults thought we knew nothing about heartbreak and pain. If some of those adults could have seen the look on Daphne's face, it would certainly shut them up. Graham obviously meant a whole lot to her. And even though she was clearly a bit psycho, judging from the way she dragged me into a classroom and straight up threatened me, I couldn't help but feel bad for her when she started to sob.

Pansy got up from her bed and went to Daphne, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Tracey had begun rummaging through her trunk wildly, throwing clothes behind her, before pulling out a large box of toffees. I got up also, careful to not become an outcast, and followed Pansy to Daphne's side.

Daphne eventually caught her breath and rambled on about Graham Montague some more, before taking a toffee and sighing deeply, they had looked absolutely delicious. When Tracey passed the box around, I decided to take just one. Enough to get the taste, but not enough to trigger a binge. At the back of my mind, I remembered my box of cookies and treats in my trunk for binging. The mere thought of binging made me shiver, and I tried to shove the incredible taste of the toffee to the back of my mind.

After another hour or so of girl talk and calming Daphne down, we went back into our own beds and got settled. The candle-lit lamp on my nightstand made me more comfortable. I wasn't exactly keen on the dark, I never had been. One of the girls was already snoring. I sighed, and replayed the events of the day, from the disaster of a breakfast, to nearly missing the train to the ridiculous sorting ceremony. 

_Oh shit._ _The breakfast!_

I shot up from the bed, trying my hardest to be light on my feet as I walked on the old floorboards to my trunk. I opened it up, and pulled out my muggle scales. Thankfully, they hadn't been confiscated when our bags were searched, which had been a slight concern of mine at the feast. I crept into the en suite, which turned out to be quite nice, and put them on the floor. The window in there was half water, half sky. The water only came half way up the window, meaning the top part of the glass could be opened for air. My nightgown dropped to the floor, and I held my breath before stepping onto the scale.

I waited. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. 

107.1 pounds.

I just kind of stood there, staring at the number. I hadn't lost any weight in two weeks. In fact, it had just been fluctuating like mad. I even changed the batteries before I packed it away for Hogwarts, so it couldn't be wrong, surely. Ugh... it wasn't a good feeling at all. 

_'Maybe if you just exercise like you should have been doing for the past two weeks, you could burn some of the fat off! You'll feel so much better after it! You know you will. Go get your wand and light some candles. You need to work out. Now!'_

I huffed, stepping off the scales and carrying them quietly back to my trunk. I retrieved my wand from under my pillow before returning to the en suite. Shutting the door behind me, I cast the Muffliato charm to silence the room. For this, I needed privacy. After stretching my muscles out a bit, I got to the floor and began to do sit-ups, counting each one and feeling my stomach muscles burn as the number increased.

_'Come on! Keep going - you're doing so well! If you can do 200 more, you'll burn off that stupid breakfast! Don't stop now, you pathetic bitch, keep fucking going!!'_

Hours later, I was still on the floor doing them. My eyes were filled with tears, my skin drenched in sweat, the pain searing through every part of my body.

I forced myself to stop when I saw the ray of sunshine from outside the window. My body was thoroughly aching, my back undoubtedly covered in deep purple bruises. I hadn't realised that I had actually been wailing in pain until I caught my breath properly. For how long I had been wailing, I didn't know. Thank Merlin for that silencing charm. My head wouldn't stop spinning, and it took me a couple of attempts to get to my feet from that cold, tile floor. I stumbled along on tingling feet to the mirror where I caught sight of myself, my bloodshot eyes staring back at me with pure hatred and disgust.

Sunrise meant it was around 7am, so I needed to get a move on. I gulped down mouthfuls of water from the silver faucet, the cool water instantly easing some of the pain in my oesophagus, and I stepped into the shower.

The first class would begin in two hours. Breakfast stood between me and it. Any hope of getting some sleep was gone. The first day of school, what could possibly make it worse?


	6. The Golden Trio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Draco will be coming into the story in the next chapter, this is just the build up. Things will start up very soon!

The hot water felt exquisite against my aching muscles. I knew I’d need about five more hours in the shower to feel any significant difference, but those few minutes were enough to wake me up a bit, at least.

Once I had sorted out my crazy hair and brushed my teeth, I lifted the charm from the en suite and entered the dorm room once more to find that, thankfully, everyone was still sleeping.

I took advantage of these extra few minutes of sweet privacy, and pulled the scales out again. The number wasn’t exactly thrilling, it was probably just because of the amount of fluid I was after sweating out during the night.

106.9 pounds.

_Still better than 107.1 pounds..._

My uniform had that new clothes smell, and I chose to wear my skirt with high socks instead of the trousers. That was another thing the girls spoke about the night before - the trousers were only 'acceptable' for us girls when it was really cold outside, never for any day besides that. I needed to fit in, so I put on the damn skirt that made me hate my body even more.

A little bit of concealer, mascara and lip balm later, the girls finally awoke, groggy and irritated.

"What bloody time did you wake up at?" Pansy moaned sleepily. 

"I don't know, just couldn't sleep. First day nerves, you know?" 

She moaned again and eventually sat up, her once perfect bob haircut was now resembling a bird's nest. 

"If our first class is with those fucking Gryffindors, I'll kill someone!" She yawned, but something told me she wasn't kidding. 

Once all four of us were dressed in our new school robes, we headed out of the dorm and down the wooden staircase. The common room was already swarming with students of all ages, discussing classes and teachers. The antique-looking clock on the wall read 8:04am. It seemed the boys had already gone to breakfast or, what seemed more likely, still in bed.

The great hall was also buzzing with excitement, the head's of each house giving the little first years their timetables for the year. They'd get the timetable, squeel with joy, then make a mad dash for the doors to go to their first lesson. I happened to spot Ellen and her friends at the Gryffindor table, tucking in to some bacon and toast. She seemed happy, which was a relief. At least one of the Glynts was in a good mood.

After taking a seat at the breakfast table, my eyes scanned the lengthy table for fruit of some kind. I saw a single banana, but that was pretty much it. Most of the other students were tucking into large helpings of porridge, eggs, toast and sausages. As delicious as all those foods looked, it felt as though my broken body couldn't have handled much food. The pain radiating from my stomach and back kept my mind elsewhere throughout. I did decide to reach for that banana though, and take a few bites, just enough to prevent myself from passing out. 

Just then, the girls greeted some people I hadn't met yet, except...wait...no. Oh hell no. My eyes fixed upon one of the guys who had sat down across the table next to Pansy. It was the dude from Diagon Alley! I was absolutely sure of it - his features were so distinct that it couldn't be anyone else. Just as I was about to say something, Pansy chimed in. 

"Aurora, these are our friends Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. They're all in our year." They all nodded in my direction, Draco Malfoy on the other hand, did not. 

It had just clicked in my brain - Draco was the name of the guy Daphne had told me about the night before. He was Pansy's crush or boyfriend or something. Well, leaving him alone wouln't be a problem. I mean, sure, he was a very attractive guy. But the look he gave me that day in the street was enough to keep me far away from him.

A tall, black-haired teacher in sleek black robes approached us, and began handing out the timetables. I figured this man must have been the head of Slytherin house.

"Now, Aurora Glynt. I see you have achieved all the required marks to proceed to N.E.W.T level here at Hogwarts, I sure hope your little Ilvermorny has prepared you for the work you are about to face." He said coldly, not meeting my gaze. He tapped a sheet of blank paper with his wand and suddenly a full, detailed timetable was drawn onto it. 

"Thank you..." I started, realising I didn't know the teacher's name.

"Professor Snape."

"Thank you, Professor Snape" I replied quickly, getting to my feet to leave. I had to fight the urge to shout out with pain as I got up from the table, I closed my eyes tight and steadied myself as casually as possible. We had about twenty minutes until class, and I had no clue where any classroom was. All I knew was that I would be late if I didn't get my books from the dorm as soon as possible. 

I had an Ancient Runes class, then Defence Against the Dark Arts, and finally, a double Potions class at the end of the day. In total, I had three free periods on Mondays. There were two classes at the start of the day, then break, two more classes, lunch, followed by three evening classes. My schedule showed me that after my first lesson, if I just skipped break, I could sleep for about two hours.

Excellent, that meant I'd be able to get at least some small amount of fucking rest!

My first class was Ancient Runes, in classroom 6A. That seemed pretty straight forward. That obviously must mean the first classroom on the sixth floor. So, with my necessary books in hand, I started toward the upper staircases. That's when it occurred to me that nobody, not one fucking person, decided to tell me how the damn staircases worked. It was like a fucking maze! Looking up made my head spin!

Each staircase was turning. It would stop briefly to let students walk off to a hallway, and then it would twirl around again.

That's when I noticed a girl with curly hair walking toward me with...is that a...yes! She was holding a copy of Advanced Rune Translation on top of about four other books. 

"Hey!" I called out, catching her eye.

"Yes?" she replied meekly. 

"Uh, I'm new. I need to get to Professor Babbling's Ancient Runes class. But I don't know..." I looked up at a staircase that had just shot in another direction very abruptly, scaring the shit out of me. 

"Oh! Just follow me, it's my first class too."

I followed the girl up the moving staircases, careful not to step on any trick steps, and it involved a lot of waiting to be pointed in the correct direction. Eventually, we made it to the sixth floor and walked to the very end of the seemingly endless corridor, to room 6A. It was a bright room, with lots of windows that let the light flood in, not a single candle needed. The desks in the room were rather old and worn looking too, and there were roughly twenty rows of them. 

"Ah!" said the witch at the top of the classroom. "You must be Miss Glynt, am I correct?"

She was tall, thin and wore a dark purple lipstick. Her robes too were dark, velvet, and very stylish. She couldn't have been much older than my mother.

"Yes, Miss."

"Good, good. My name is Professor Bathsheda Babbling, and you're very welcome to the class. You may take a seat right at the front here, next to Miss Granger."

Granger? I knew that surname. I'd heard it before, read about it. Wasn't that Harry Potter's...

I turned to look at the girl. Fuck. It was the same girl who had led me up to the room. She...she is Hermione fucking Granger!

I dropped my books onto the scratched wooden desk and sat in alongside her as the class chatted, awaiting the other students to arrive. 

"I-I had no idea you were Hermione Granger!" I blurted out.

_You fucking idiot._

She smiled down at her already opened textbook. 

"I read all about what happened at the Ministry of Magic before I moved here. That- I mean, it was really admirable what you all did." I admitted, feeling like a fucking super fan. 

"Oh, thank you!" she replied, smiling brightly. "I saw you being sorted last night at the feast, what's your name again?"

"Aurora, Aurora Glynt. My younger sister was actually put in Gryffindor, Ellen. She's in her third year, I don't know if you-"

"Yes, she and her friends came up to me this morning in the common room begging me to introduce them to Harry, I take it she's a little bit interested in him!" Hermione giggled.

"Oh, you could say that alright. I think her friends are just as bad. It's pretty cute in my opinion."

Hermione and I chatted on and on about the school, subjects, teachers. Hell, we even talked about quidditch, a topic about which neither of us cared much for. Eventually, the class began and Professor Babbling babbled the fuck on about translations for forty-five minutes until, finally, the loud bell rang through the hallways. The amount of homework we got was unbelievable. We had to write a fifteen inch essay, two translations and had two small, but detailed, books to be read by Wednesday! 

Hermione and I looked at each other dumbfounded before exiting the room. 

"Well, I have a free period now" she started "so I'm going to the library to get a head start on all of this. Care to join?"

I thought about it. Sleep for two hours and avoid being spotted by my housemates with a Gryffindor, or go with her and get most of this bullshit work done. Hmm...

"Yes, I'd love to. You'll have to show me where it is though, I wasn't given a tour, you see."

Hermione and I studied and talked quietly in the library for the hour that remained until break, when a lot of the students around us stood up to go for food.

"If we eat at lunch instead of eating now, we should get most of these translations done before next period!" Hermione chirped eagerly. 

Now this, is a girl who's mind I really like. 

Astonishingly, we got both translations completed, and also made substantial progress on our essays. Hermione Granger worked fast, and soaked up information like a sponge. Keeping up with her work pace was a challenge, but I was pleasantly surprised at the end of it by how well I had done. When the next bell rang, we packed up our things and headed for our common rooms to collect our new Defence Against the Dark Arts books for next period. Upon exiting the library, however, Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Ron! Harry!" she called.

Oh, no. You've got to be kidding me. 

Sure, meeting Harry Potter was going to be scary enough, but the thought of one of the Slytherins seeing me...

"Hermione, it's the first day back." Ron began. "You don't need to be in the library on the first day, you know."

"We had to do homework for Runes, Babbling gave us loads! This is Aurora, by the way. She's from Ilvermorny."

"Where?" Harry asked confusedly. 

"Oh, Harry. It's the equivalent of Hogwarts in America." Hermione explained.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were very different than how I had pictured them. Yes, I had seen their photographs all over wizard newspapers, but they were strangely different in person. They seemed more...human. They seemed, to my surprise, exceptionally normal. I didn't see any students following Harry around asking for his autograph, and nobody had even spoken to Hermione in Runes. This eased me a bit, and I felt a bit better about them. However, the lingering thought of Pansy Parkinson strutting around a corner and catching me out was terrifying.

"Weren't you sorted into Slytherin, though?" Ron asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes slightly. 

I saw Hermione shoot him a very threatening look.

"So?" she asked.

It seemed neither Harry not Ron had an answer to this, so they just smiled at me awkwardly. 

"Well" said Ron "Harry and I were just going out to the courtyard to wait around until Snape's class, you coming?" he asked, looking from Hermione to me.

Well, after thirty minutes of talking, I felt a pain in my heart. I couldn't help but feel like I had been dealt a bad hand when I was sorted into Slytherin. I felt like I fit in much better with the Gryffindors so far. These three were great! They told me all about Snape and his obvious favouritism towards those from his own house, about Peeves the annoying poltergeist and about something called the 'Slug Club', which was new.

All of these conversation topics, however, seemed to pale when I brought up Draco Malfoy. As soon as I said his name, all three of their widened eyes shot up to meet mine.

"-yeah, Daphne Greengrass made it quite clear that if I went anywhere near him, that Pansy would hex me into oblivion!"

"Well, If I were you I'd say miles away from him anyway." said Ron.

"Why's that?" I asked.

There was a silence. It wasn't a brief one either. It was a very long, drawn out, silence. 

Just then, as if the school itself could sense the discomfort, the bell for class rang loudly, echoing through the stone passages. 

"Oh shit, I need to get my books!" I suddenly realised. And from what I'd heard from Harry, Ron and Hermione, Snape wasn't someone I'd want to piss off, especially during the first class.

"Me neither!" called Hermione, rushing after me with her heavy bag filled with library books.

"See you there!" the boys called after us, but we were dashing at a mad speed to get to our common rooms.

My muscles still felt like they were tearing, I knew it would probably take weeks to feel 'normal' again. Even the feeling of my feet hitting the floor any time I took a step created a shooting pain.

Hermione briefly explained where the classroom would be, and continued on her way to the Gryffindor tower. After about four wrong turns, I finally found the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Nutmeg!" I panted, the wall opening up.

The common area wasn't empty, students were coming and going as I was - including Pansy and Tracey. Oh, for fuck sake.

"There you are!" Pansy shouted from the staircase. "Where were you? We both had one class this morning and then two frees. You should have been back here earlier!"

I couldn't exactly tell her where I had really been, or who I had been with. I wanted to avoid being killed, thank you very much. 

"Lost" I finally managed to get out, still trying to catch my breath. "Couldn't find the common room after class, so I just went outside and waited. I literally just found the common room now."

Even I wouldn't have believed myself if I were Pansy. I definitely wasn't the best liar, especially if I needed to lie on the spot like that. Ignoring her suspicious glance, I marched passed her to retrieve my books.

Pansy seemed to stay in her little 'mood' as we made our way to the third floor for Snape's Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Snape, apparently, loved the Dart Arts (according to Harry), and had been after this particular position for years. I didn't quite know what to expect, my mind just kept snapping back to -

_'Lunch...what will I eat for lunch? What food will be there? What won't cause weight gain? What if someone notices that I'm being picky or not eating much?'_

Before I knew it, we had reached the classroom. I sat next to Blaise Zabini, the tall, handsome boy who was in Pansy's group of friends. He didn't speak, just raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement of my presence. Harry, Ron and Hermione were already seated when we entered the classroom, and one thing I noticed, something that made me feel quite nauseated, was that they didn't look at all pleased when they saw the people I came in with. 


End file.
